Gardening and downsizing: two words that are rarely, if ever, used in the same sentence. However, Shirley Gibson, has taken the transition from a large splendid home with formal cutting, floral and vegetable gardens, groomed orchards with planned fields filled with native plantings, to a smaller villa style “Visiting Garden.” A senior residential community, where homes have limited space for gardens and patios, was where she graciously invited me to interview her. >> read article

With garden space and spare time at a premium for most families, gone are the huge backyard plots that once yielded all the vegetables a family could eat. After a move to the city in 2012, my own vegetable garden shrunk from a half acre in the country to a few raised beds. Nonetheless, I’m amazed at the large and varied harvest from my new, much smaller space these last two years.
Success for me and other small-space gardeners is due in part to plant breeders, who have developed compact veggies to replace some of the space hogs of the past. Many of these new varieties are ideal candidates not only for small beds, but also for containers, which means you can grow a decent harvest even if you have no ground at all. >> read article

Gardening Up High
Resplendent green rooftops provide benefits all year by Sylvia Forbes

Tall, slender stems of grass swish in the warm summer breezes, while coreopsis and coneflowers bob their heads, as if waving. They and dozens of other plants grow in a diverse garden planted on top of a garage in the middle of St. Louis, Missouri. If a person doesn't look up when walking or driving by, they'll miss seeing it. >> read article